Argentina : Heading North

Argentina : Heading North

Having picked up Big Bertha from Zarate Port and spent four days or so getting her ready for travel again, we were ready to start exploring South America. We have arrived in winter and so we shall go north to warmer climes and then head south to Ushuaia, at the southern tip of South America for later in the year.

South America is a big continent and we must get used to driving for longer periods. Its 1200km to Iguazu Falls and the Brazilian border and that’s just the start of our northern loop. On the plus side, the roads are mostly good and, because of the huge amount of trucks (they outnumber cars on the highways), there are numerous fuel stops. To tempt the truckers in, these stops often have good restaurants, washrooms and plentiful parking. Fuel in Argentina is about 60p a litre.

Our first stop is the El Palmar National Park where we had a good hike and saw some interesting animals (first armadillo) and birds. We stop next at the Ibera National Park where again we hiked and took a boat trip on the waterways, seeing plenty of caimen and many birds.

Pousda came next – a very nice border town sitting on the river separating Paraguay and Argentina. We parked on the river front and hiked the long corniche before chilling in a very happening bar to watch the sun set.

Argentina, and Paraguay, have a number of Jesuit missions and we visited two: Santa Ana and San Ignacio. They are well looked after and very popular. Before our final cruise into Iguazu, we visited Che Guevara’s childhood home. Who knew he was born Argentinian?